Forgiveness And Peace Found At Last
by GoldGuardian2418
Summary: The Autobots and former 'Cons are worried when Lockdown's signal shows up, but when they go to stop the bounty hunter, they get a shock at seeing the ruthless mech's terrible state. What could have happened to cause Lockdown to want to give up on life? Done as a request for EmeraldMoonGreen. :) Rated T for mention of death.
1. Chapter 1

**EmeraldMoonGreen, who owns Shadow, Eclipse, Jay, and Kristin, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :) **

**Transformers Prime belongs to Hasbro. I only own Camilla.**

* * *

**Forgiveness And Peace Found At Last**

Camilla, Kristin, and Jay were enjoying some hot chocolate while sitting on the couch. "I can't believe it got so cold again after the stretch of warm days we had," the older woman said.

"At least the cold caught that bad guy off guard for you and your team to catch him, Aunt Camilla," Jay said with a smile.

"Yes," she said. "I'm so glad I brought a jacket with me otherwise I would have been in the same boat."

"And Ratchet would have had my hide for you not having the proper gear for the weather," Prowl said.

Kristin giggled. "Aw, come on, Prowl. Ratchet's not that bad," she said.

He smiled at her, playfully poking her side to make her giggle again. Jay smiled and snuggled into his aunt's side. "At least it's Spring Break this week," he said happily.

"That's true," Camilla said. "You kids earned a break after getting those good grades in your math, science, and history classes."

Perceptor, who was nearby, smiled. "You two did work hard to earn those grades," he said.

"And we had your help for science, which helped us out a lot," Kristin said with a smile.

"And then Bulkhead helped us out with math," Jay said. "And Soundwave helped out with history."

"Oh, yeah," Kristin said in agreement. "I wasn't so sure about my history test, but I was relieved to get an A minus at least."

"And you worked hard for that A minus," Camilla said with a smile. "While Soundwave, Bulkhead, and Perceptor tutored you guys and helped you study for those tests, you two put the effort in to get those good grades."

"She's right," Soundwave said, coming up to them, gently rubbing Kristin's head with one finger and doing the same with Jay and Camilla. "To think that almost four years ago, I had no idea that I would find peace thanks to a certain brunette and then a young boy and his aunt."

Camilla smiled. "If someone had told me three years ago that I would find my nephew and be working closely with the Autobots and former 'Cons, I'd have told them they were crazy," she admitted.

Jay giggled. "I think I would have said the same thing," he admitted. "Going from a not-so-good home to having a home, a real Dad, loving uncles and brothers, and finding my aunt...sometimes it feels kind of...kind of...,"

"Surreal?" Megatron supplied gently, having come in and caught what Jay had said.

"Yeah," the boy said in agreement.

"I know the feeling," Kristin said gently.

Just then, the alarms went off and they jumped with Jay running over to Kristin, who grabbed him in a hug, and Camilla standing up and pulling out her phone, transforming it into a stun gun. "What's that?" She called out over the noise, going over to Perceptor, who held out his hand to allow her to climb up and hold onto his thumb as he walked quickly to the base computers.

Soundwave scooped up Jay and Kristin gently and went over to the computer too, worried. "It's a new signal," Red Alert, who was at the computers said before he winced as his horns sparked a little. His optics widened and he began shaking a little, his horns sparking more. "Oh, no," he said as the signal popped up clear on the screen and they all felt shock fill them as the signal was one they all unfortunately recognized right away.

"Lockdown," Starscream said softly in horror, his armor rattling a bit as he shivered. Thundercracker and Skywarp immediately went over to him to hug him and comfort him. Even Megatron looked unnerved.

Nothing everyone becoming extremely on edge, Camilla looked up at Perceptor. "Who's Lockdown?" She asked, though she had a bad feeling she wouldn't like the answer if Red Alert's and Starscream's reactions were anything to go by.

"He's a bounty hunter," Optimus replied. "He is well known for being ruthless and will go after any large bounty for not only the monetary reward, but for souvenirs as well."

It was quiet for a moment. "I'm assuming from the way you said that, you mean something that causes his 'targets' pain," the lady spy said.

"You're correct," Knockout said with a shudder. "He takes special mods from his prey and keeps them as trophies or even uses them himself."

Kristin and Jay shivered in fear, to which Soundwave held them close to his chest just over his spark, hoping his sparkbeat would help them calm down a bit. Eclipse, who had just come in, jumped onto her father's shoulder. Ratchet, having grown used to his daughter jumping up on his shoulders, didn't flinch, but rather petted her head, seeing she was in her Nightfury form. "Daddy, whose signal is that?" She asked.

"A bounty hunter that we need to take care of," the medic said. "He might be here to join the rogue 'Cons."

"If he does join them, then we'll have even more problems to worry about," Arcee said, worry in her voice.

Optimus nodded. "Bumblebee, Arcee, Prowl, you three will join me for ground support. Starscream, can you and your brothers provide aerial support?"

"Yes, Prime," the seeker said immediately and his brothers nodded too.

"Let me come too, Optimus," Shadow said, ready to help.

He nodded as the femme's expertise with electrical weapons could come in as their trump card. "Ratchet, Knockout, have sick bay ready just in case," he said. "The rest of you be ready in case we need backup."

"Yes, sir," Bumblebee said as the others echoed his reply. Camilla looked at Jay, Kristin, and Eclipse and looked up at Perceptor, who glanced at her and caught on her train of thought.

"You know, I found some new rocks outside the base yesterday and was hoping to examine them more closely today," he said. The three children looked at him, eyes bright as they loved it when the scientist would share his geology findings with them. "I could use a few helpers," he continued with a smile.

That clinched it and the kids immediately went with him and Camilla as they headed for the lab.

* * *

Meanwhile, the others either headed out through the groundbridge or were standing by, ready to help if needed. Optimus led the team and it wasn't too long after that they came upon Lockdown's location.

Arcee noticed something and did a quick scan, which confirmed what she had noticed. "Bumblebee, do a scan on that ship, please?" She asked. "There's something off about it."

He did so and was surprised. "It's not guarded," he said. "Not even a proximity alarm."

Shadow did a scan herself, finding the same thing. "They're right, Optimus," she said. "This could be a trap."

"That's not like Lockdown," Starscream said in confusion. "Nor is not cloaking his ship. Something is off."

"Well, we better intercept him before he meets up with the rogues," Thundercracker said.

"Let's move forward, but keep your sensors alert," Optimus said as they moved closer, transforming and surrounding the ship just as Lockdown was coming out. Prowl noticed something seemed off about the bounty hunter and turned to Optimus.

"Something's off about him," he said.

Just then, Lockdown spotted them and he aimed his weapons at them. That was enough for them to move in.

To their surprise, the fight wasn't as difficult as they thought it would be. And it seemed that the bounty hunter wasn't even trying to fight them off. Having had enough, Prowl aimed a new weapon at Lockdown. It was an Energon pulse gun that could either stun an opponent to make them go into temporary paralysis or knock them out. Setting the dial to the knock out side, the Praxian aimed and fired.

The pulse hit Lockdown square in the chest and knocked him down, making him lose consciousness immediately. Shadow crept closer and nodded. "He's out," she said. "But...that battle was...odd."

"I agree with her," Skywarp said. "It was like...he wasn't even trying hard."

"Could we have simply caught him off guard?" Bumblebee said.

"Not likely," Starscream said. "He's pretty much impossible to catch off guard."

Still puzzled over what had happened, Arcee and Prowl tied Lockdown up and put him in Optimus' trailer before everyone headed back to base.

* * *

_A couple hours later..._

Lockdown felt his consciousness returning and he woke up, eyes opening as he felt like he couldn't move and glanced up to see his arms were chained over his head and his feet were chained to the wall behind him, giving him very little leeway to move. He noticed it looked like a brig and that was only confirmed when he saw both Optimus and Megatron standing before him.

The two were watching him and to their surprise, the bounty hunter let out an almost disappointed sigh and seemed to slump in his bindings. "I was hoping I wouldn't wake up," he mumbled softly, but they heard him loud and clear.

The two looked at each other. This didn't sound like the ruthless bounty hunter they had known Lockdown to be. He sounded more like...a broken mech. Megatron was concerned greatly. "Prime, I believe we should call Ratchet and Knockout to come examine him," he said. "He sounds like he might be getting ill."

Optimus nodded and called the two medics, who came at once and examined Lockdown, who didn't even move or say anything as they examined him and found the results shocking to even themselves.

The two came over to the two leaders. "Prime, Megatron, it's worse than we thought," Ratchet said.

"What is it, old friend?" Optimus said.

"Lockdown hasn't refueled or recharged in close to a month," the white-and-orange medic said.

"A month?!" Megatron said in shock.

Knockout nodded. "He's been using a substance that forces his body to stay awake to keep him going," he said.

"It's amazing that he's even able to function at this point!" Ratchet said, his worry evident.

Optimus made a decision right then. "Then we must help him," he said.

Megatron nodded in agreement. "Doctors, can you help him recover?" He asked. While he didn't care about Lockdown being a bounty hunter, he certainly wouldn't wish the mech's current state on anyone.

"We'll do our best," Knockout said as he and Ratchet immediately got to work to save the mech's life.

* * *

**Hmm. Curious, yes? Read on! :) **

**GoldGuardian2418 **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

In the base, Prowl and Shadow were telling the others about the odd battle. "It was like...he wasn't even trying to fight," Shadow said.

"Which is very odd," Prowl said.

Camilla was deep in thought. "No guards, no proximity alarms, not even a single trap, and then he comes out, not seeming surprised, pulls out his weapons, but then doesn't even try to fight but just rather looks like he's going to fight?" She asked before biting her lip. "Guys, I hate to say it, but it sounds like he had a death wish."

"A death wish?" Ultra Magnus repeated questioningly.

The lady spy nodded. "Like, he came to get our attention and...was hoping to be taken out," she said. "Sounds like he was in a depressed state and maybe not even registering the fight, but just...trying to make it look like he was making an effort."

"She could be right," Predaking said with a nod. "We've known Lockdown to be a ruthless bounty hunter and for him to be anything but that is highly unusual."

Soundwave received a comm and he gasped. "My word!" He exclaimed.

"What is it, Soundwave?" Kristin asked, worried.

The former silent 'Con looked shocked. "Lockdown...has been forcing himself to stay awake apparently to...hope that someone would take him out so that he wouldn't wake up," he said.

Everyone was shocked. "Then Camilla was right," Bulkhead said. "Lockdown came here with a death wish, but...why?"

"Good question," Starscream said.

Jay now looked up. "What if...something really bad happened?" He asked softly. "I mean...even the most ruthless fighters can not like it if something really bad happens to them."

"Jay's right," Camilla said. "But...what could have happened that would make a ruthless bounty hunter...give up on himself?"

They didn't know how to answer that question.

In the brig, Ratchet brought Lockdown an Energon cube while Knockout tried to patch him up, but the dark mech refused the Energon, simply turning his head away softly, looking more defeated as time passed on. "Lockdown, you need to refuel," the orange-and-white mech said gently.

But the plea was ignored, as was the Energon cube brought up to the bounty hunter's face. Knockout looked worried and he and Ratchet turned to Optimus and Megatron, shrugging their shoulders as they had no idea what else to do.

They headed out of the brig together. "He looks like he's just lost all hope," Megatron said.

"But why?" Optimus said. "This isn't like him."

"Indeed not," came a familiar voice and they turned in surprise to see Primus behind them and he looked concerned.

"Primus," Knockout said. "I take it you know?"

"Yes," the benevolent bot said. "I've been watching Lockdown since sensing that he was getting ill."

"What could have happened that he would just...want to be offline?" Megatron asked softly.

"That's what I intend to find out and intervene to make sure it doesn't happen," Primus said as he went towards the brig. They watched him and hoped he could help Lockdown.

* * *

In his cell, Lockdown was just staring blankly at the wall in front of him, not acknowledging anything. He didn't even react when Primus appeared in front of him. He merely glanced at him before sighing and looking away without speaking.

"Lockdown," the benevolent bot said, his voice soft as if he was comforting a frightened sparkling. The bounty hunter didn't look at him. "Lockdown, why haven't you taken care of yourself? What happened?"

These questions went unanswered as Lockdown slumped in his chains, looking at the ground now. Seeing that his attempts weren't working, Primus made a decision right then. "Well, it looks like I have no choice but to...make you talk," he said.

Curiosity, a rare emotion for him to have, filled Lockdown and he lifted up his head a little, but still looking at the ground. Seeing this, Primus chuckled and reached for him, his large hands resting on the bounty hunter's sides before sliding up to his underarms and large fingers wiggled into the exposed underarms.

To his surprise, Lockdown immediately began laughing and squirming weakly, but still refusing to look the benevolent bot in the optic. "Well, well," Primus said with a chuckle. "Looks like I have another ticklish one here."

Lockdown couldn't answer him through his laughter and just kept squirming and trying to lean back despite being trapped and not at full strength. Another chuckle escaped the larger bot. "Cootchie, cootchie, coo," he cooed to him.

Lockdown continued laughing so much that he couldn't speak, but after about thirty minutes of the tickle torture, the bounty hunter began to show signs of being in pain as his chest, sides, and stomach started to ache terribly after his worst spot, the sides of his stomach, was tickled to pieces.

Seeing this, Primus stopped to let him catch his breath, placing a gentle hand on Lockdown's chest, feeling the pain the dark mech was in. "Lockdown?" He inquired gently. "Why have you done this to yourself?"

The bounty hunter finally lifted his head up to look at the bot before him. "I...I don't deserve mercy, sir," he said.

Primus looked shocked at that and at once returned his hands to tickling the sides of Lockdown's stomach, making the bounty hunter squeak in surprise and laugh. "Explain, please, Lockdown," the larger bot said, not letting up as he wanted an explanation to what the mech had said.

The gentle questioning, along with the tickle torture and the pain he felt, was getting to be a bit too much and finally, Lockdown snapped.

"I KILLED A SPARKLING!" He screamed out before he broke down, tears falling from his optics as sobs escaped him.

Primus at once stopped at hearing that and looked at the mech before him in surprise and shock before seeing how broken the mech looked.

Lockdown wasn't even aware of what was going on around him as his mind was simply on the sparkling that he had killed and the guilt was weighing down on him to where he couldn't stop crying and just kept apologizing over and over again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he sobbed out through his tears, his voice catching as he continued crying, tears flowing down his face like a waterfall as he kept repeating those two words over and over again, not even reacting as the chains on his arms and legs were removed and he was scooped up into the benevolent bot's arms.

Primus just held the broken mech to him, his arms wrapped around him comfortingly as he could see that the death of the sparkling had hit the bounty hunter hard. Now, he knew that some of the rogue 'Cons didn't care about sparklings, but the former 'Cons did and it seemed that the bounty hunter did too, since he looked so torn up that he had killed a sparkling.

"Lockdown," he spoke softly. "What do you mean?"

But the dark mech couldn't respond as he just kept crying, which convinced the larger bot that the sparkling's death was accidental and Lockdown must have a soft spot for little ones since he looked absolutely torn up that a sparkling had died on him.

Primus just continued to hold him until finally, the poor mech passed out from both exhaustion and from how hard he had been crying. Cradling the dark mech in his arms like a newborn sparkling, the large bot walked out of the brig, finding the others gathered in the hallway and looking worried.

Camilla, who was sitting on Prowl's shoulder, looked up at the larger bot. "Did...Did he really say that he killed a sparkling?" She asked, horror in her voice, but there was a touch of sympathy too, which told the others that she felt the mech's pain too.

"Yes," Primus answered. "And he's very torn up about it, to the point he feels he doesn't deserve mercy."

"But from the sounds of it...it sounded like it was an accident," Kristin said softly, having heard the pain in the dark mech's voice too. "Surely a ruthless person wouldn't be crying over the loss of a sparkling unless he has a soft spot for sparklings and didn't mean to hurt a little one."

"You could be right, Kristin," Soundwave said softly. "Perhaps Lockdown follows the same code we do: never harm a sparkling."

"Though sadly, not all of the Decepticons followed that code," Megatron said. "The rogues don't, for certain."

"Then it seems that Lockdown wasn't coming to join the rogues after all," Red Alert said softly, feeling sympathy for the poor mech too.

Ratchet let out a soft sigh. "Well, let's get him to the medbay," he said. "Knockout and I can treat him there."

Eclipse followed her father and uncle in while the others just watched, hoping that Lockdown would make it.

"I hope he feels better soon," Kristin said. "But...his mental and emotional wounds may take a long time to heal."

"Yes," Optimus said softly. "But we will help him too. No one deserves to go through what he's been through."

"No, and neither does he," Megatron softly agreed.

They all gathered in the command center, anxiously waiting for the dark mech to recover and perhaps start to finally heal.

* * *

**Hmm. What do you think? Read on! :) **

**GoldGuardian2418 **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

Soft voices reached Lockdown's audios and he woke up, hearing the voices coming from nearby, but he didn't move or open his optics.

"He was at first refusing to tell me, but after a bit, he seemed to not want to hold his guilt in anymore and snapped, saying what he had done that led him to coming here on a death wish. He didn't care who battled him as he hoped it would end the way he was hoping for," Primus said.

"He feels he shouldn't live because he accidentally killed a sparkling," Prowl said softly.

"So he's been beating himself up over it for...Ratchet, Knockout, how long did you say that he hadn't refueled or recharged?" Camilla asked.

"Close to a month," Knockout said softly.

"If we hadn't gone to intercept him, he might have died within a day or so," Ratchet said.

Camilla shook her head sadly. "Lockdown can't be completely heartless then," she said softly. "A heartless person doesn't grieve a child's death, but a person who has a code of honor and refuses to willingly hurt a sparkling does grieve when one dies."

Perceptor nodded softly. He had seen it now and again in the war and agreed with the lady spy.

Lockdown, feeling his spark ache more, fell back asleep once more, not ready to face the world yet.

* * *

_A full day later..._

Lockdown woke up fully, his eyes opening and he felt confusion fill him as he found himself resting on a berth with a blanket draped over him, but it wasn't the berth on his ship. His gaze went to the end of the berth and he completely froze up at seeing Eclipse sitting there in her dragon form, staring at him for a moment before she began moving towards him.

The dark mech didn't dare move as the young femme came up to him with something in her hands, something he recognized to be a cube of Energon. Eclipse held out the cube of Energon to him. "You need to drink it all up," she said sternly to him. "And I'm not going anywhere until you do."

He swallowed hard, but hesitantly reached forward, but when he went to take the cube of Energon, she noticed that he seemed to be afraid to touch her hand and his hands were shaking so much that he couldn't seem to get a proper grip on the cube. "Here," she said softly, holding up to his mouth for him. "I'll hold it while you drink."

While still afraid of even touching the young one's hands, he was grateful that she was willing to help him and he began drinking the cube slowly, feeling his energy slowly starting to return.

The others came into the medbay, pausing when they saw the young dragon holding up the Energon cube for the dark mech, whose hands were shaking still and he seemed to outright refuse to touch her. Ratchet looked worried. "He looks...afraid," he said softly.

"He must be afraid that he'll hurt Eclipse," Wheeljack said softly.

They watched as Lockdown drank the cube of Energon and he looked a bit tired, but felt Eclipse come closer and he looked at her. "Did you really make a sparkling go to sleep for a long time?" She asked, surprising everyone.

Lockdown winced sharply, tears gathering in his eyes again, but he nodded. "Yes," he said, forcing himself to speak even though they could see it was hurting him from the awful guilt he carried in him.

"Lockdown," Soundwave called softly, making the mech look at him. "What happened?"

Though put gently, the question made more tears come to the bounty hunter's eyes. "I was supposed to go after a target and I was to make sure the mech was taken care of," he said. "But the one who hired me didn't tell me that the mech had a sparkling with him. If he had, I wouldn't have taken the job."

He paused, shaking more now. "I...I blew up the cave the mech was in and entered to make sure the job was done, but just as I reached the place the mech had perished, I heard a whimper and I turned to find a fatally injured sparkling just a little ways beyond where the mech had perished.

"I ran over to it, horrified that it was hurt and I could see the explosives I had used caused the sparkling's injuries. I picked up the little one, wrapped it in my cloak, and got it to my ship. I tried frantically to save the little one, but...it died in my arms."

Camilla put a hand over her mouth as tears sprang to her eyes, a lump in her throat at hearing the story. Kristin sniffled a little, as did Jay, while the Autobots and former 'Cons bowed their heads, feeling the pain Lockdown was feeling.

The bounty hunter drew in a breath, but it was ragged. "I came here and buried the little one by the mountains, where some bright blue and yellow flowers were growing. They were just like the little one's armor colors, which made me decide that that place would be the young one's resting spot forever," he said. "I've been here ever since."

It was quiet before Red Alert spoke up. "But if you've been here for almost a month, why didn't we sense your signal earlier?" He asked gently.

Lockdown sighed. "I didn't want to be found out right away, but then...I just wanted the pain to stop. I had broken my code to never harm a sparkling. After almost a month of torture, I uncloaked my signal, hoping someone would find me and put my out of my misery."

Primus came forward. "Lockdown," he said softly. "The little one's death was an accident. You didn't know it was there with your target."

"I should have known though," the bounty hunter said sadly.

"How could you have known if no one told you, Lockdown?" Shadow asked gently, feeling sympathy for the remorseful mech. "And you tried to save the little one's life. You tried to make amends for what had happened."

"She's right," Knockout said gently.

Lockdown sighed and closed his eyes sadly, only to open them in surprise and shock when he felt Eclipse wrap her paws around him in a hug and nuzzled his face, purring happily and gently. "It's going to be okay," she said softly. "No one's mad at you."

The dark mech gazed up at the faces looking at him, but he couldn't find a single angry one among them. The faces that looked at him were filled with sympathy and gentle understanding. He sighed. "That doesn't change the fact that I'm a monster, little one," he said softly.

Eclipse shook her head. "I'm not scared of you," she said truthfully. "You're not a monster. I've seen monsters. You're not one of them, I promise."

Her words were hitting him hard and he looked down at her, seeing she truly wasn't afraid of him and she was hugging him as if he was a relative of hers, still nuzzling him and purring softly.

The others watched as Lockdown, with shaking hands, hesitantly hugged her back, slowly relaxing as Eclipse purred louder. Shadow and Ratchet came forward, gently smiling. "You know, Eclipse never says something she doesn't mean," Shadow said to Lockdown.

"She's honest and wouldn't lie," Ratchet said.

The dark mech smiled. "You both have a beautiful, caring sparkling," he said honestly.

They smiled at that. "Thank you," Shadow said.

Primus decided it was time for the somber mood to lift. "Eclipse, do you know what I discovered yesterday?" He asked the small sparkling.

She turned to him. "No. What?" She asked curiously.

The large mech tried to look nonchalant. "Oh, just that a certain dark mech was ticklish and that he couldn't stand the sides of his stomach being tickled, since that's his weak spot," he said, a grin on his face.

Lockdown looked horrified that Primus had blurted out that, but before he could even move, Eclipse turned to him with a gleam in her eye. "Oh, no you don't!" She said playfully, pouncing on him gently and wiggling her claws and her now bushy tail right onto the bounty hunter's weak spot.

"AAAAAH! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO, NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! LIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHITTLE ONE, STOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOP!" Lockdown pleaded through his laughter.

Everyone stood in awe at hearing the dark mech's laughter. His laugh was rich, deep, and infectious, making them all smile, chuckle, or giggle at seeing a grown mech being reduced to a pile of laughter by a small sparkling.

Suddenly, a surprisingly cute squeal left Lockdown as Eclipse began playfully nibbling his stomach and blowing raspberries into it, making him squirm and laugh harder. "Aw, look at that," Megatron said. "He can't stand having raspberries or nibbles either."

Eclipse giggled. "Tickle, tickle, tickle!" She said teasingly.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHOHOHOT THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT!" He protested, getting extremely flustered and his face began glowing like a beacon.

That was amusing for them all to see. A ruthless bounty hunter getting all flustered and blushing from just a few teasing words. Kristin and Jay giggled as Camilla tried to hide her laughter in her hands, but was failing at that and the others couldn't help the chuckles that escaped them.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ECLIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIPSE! LIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHITLE ONE! PLEAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAEASE!" Lockdown begged her, near tears, but this time, it was in happiness instead of sadness.

Giggling, Eclipse stopped, letting him get his breath back as she sat in his lap, giving him a happy smile. He chuckled a little and she gave him her puppy eyes. "Will you give me an ear scratch?" She asked hopefully.

A bit surprised, he smiled and began gently scratching her right ear, making her purr and lean into his hand. "Well, well," Optimus chuckled. "Looks like the ruthless hunter has quite a weakness."

"And he squeals so cutely when he's tickled," Arcee said teasingly.

"And he's so ticklish," Soundwave said with a chuckle.

Lockdown blushed at their teasing. "C-Come on," he stammered. "She jus-just caught me off guard."

"Did she really?" Primus asked with a knowing smile. "Because it looked like you really needed a tickle torture."

Lockdown sputtered at that, making them all laugh in amusement until Optimus looked at Megatron and the former warlord nodded in agreement and the two turned to the others. "Well, what do you all think? Should we have Lockdown stay?" Optimus asked.

The others looked thoughtful and began nodding. "He's a changed mech," Soundwave said.

"And Eclipse seems to have taken a shine to him," Wheeljack said. "And we all know that she only goes to people she knows she can trust."

"That is true," Shadow said with a smile.

Megatron looked at Lockdown. "What do you think, Lockdown?" He asked him.

The bounty hunter looked unsure. "Are...Are you sure you want...me to stay here? With my...reputation?" He asked uncertainly.

"The reputation of you being a changed mech and wanting to make amends for the wrongs that happened?" Camilla asked, smiling gently. "You know, from what the others have said, you're a very good bounty hunter. We could use your expertise in capturing Earth criminals, especially ones that are on the Most Wanted list."

"She's right," Ultra Magnus said with a nod. "There are scum here on Earth that the police are looking to put away. You could help them out with that."

While still looking unsure, Lockdown took a deep breath, but before he could open his mouth, Eclipse looked at him with large puppy eyes again. "Please, Uncle Lockdown?" She said. "Please stay."

He knew right then and there that he couldn't say no and he nodded. "If you are willing to host me and...give me another chance, then...I'm willing to prove my loyalty and trust to you all," he said.

Optimus nodded. "Welcome to the team, Lockdown," he said warmly as the others echoed his greeting.

The dark mech felt a weight fall from his shoulders and he let out a sigh of relief as he realized he had at last found the forgiveness and peace he had been seeking since the sparkling's death and the heavy feeling in his spark lifted at last, making him feel like a new mech.

He wouldn't waste his second chance.

* * *

**And that concludes the story. :)**

**Please leave a review, but no flames! **

**GoldGuardian2418 **


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